This work was supported by the Research Grants Council (General Research Fund ref HKU 7764/07M) of Hong Kong. Part of the data contained in this study was presented in abstract form at the American Society of Nephrology Annual Meeting and Scientific Exposition, November 6-9, 2008, Philadelphia, PA, USA. Icatibant was a kind gift from Sanofi-Aventis Deutschland GmbH. Rosiglitazone was a kind gift from GlaxoSmithKline (Compound Management Division, Stevenage, Herts, UK).